Raised Dots
by iejabynks
Summary: An old friend from Nevada came back and visits him as a new person. Yet, separation is inevitable for the both of them. When her past demon came back into her life, Reid and Hotchner races to end the 30 years old cold case. Repercussion is the only inevitable when life is hanging on the balance. What seemed like a simple abduction and rape, turned into a family feud in within the
1. Chapter 1

Another day, another town, another case closed. The scrawny young man just sighed as he took the last swig of his tasteless coffee and trashed the rest of them in the bin. He could feel holes were being bored behind his skull as the two eyes burning the back of his head as paced a little faster.

"Running away from something Spence?" A female figure greeted him as she handed him one of the two cups in her hand. "This one is better. I promise." She smiled.

Reid just shook his head. "JJ, was it you?" He started but halted instantaneously. Questioningly, Jereau glanced at the younger man beside her. "Never mind. Forget it." He continued. "Thanks for this." His voice was a little clearer after he took a sip from the still steaming cup of hot caffeine infused water.

It was not like him to be ashamed or to be unsure of his own thoughts. But Jareau knew better than to pester her younger colleague for an answer. She knew he would talk once he is comfortable enough. "Hey, I'm sorry for what I said in the jet. I really did not mean what I said. I was not thinking clearly." She said as they approached the black SUV.

Reid just shrugged his shoulders. "It's fine. You were under a lot of pressure. I understand." His nonchalant tone made it that much harder for her to accept what innocent young man he is.

"I know you do. I was also wrong. Do you accept my apology?" Jareau said smiling a little. Reid just nodded. "Is something wrong?" She questioned. Reid just looked at her questioningly. "There is no theory, no quotes?" She pressed a little. Again, Reid just shook his head. "If something is on your mind, I would not mind lending my ears and you know that right?"

Reid sighed. He might be innocent, but he does not know how easy was it for him to let his emotion show on his face. "It's nothing really. I just feel like I was being followed." He admitted quietly.

"Since when?" A little concerned, the older agent asked. Again Reid just shrugged his shoulders. "Do you think you can describe this stalker?" She questioned.

Taking a few second to think Reid nodded. His slumped shoulders showed how confident he was with this own judgment. "It's probably nothing." He said instead. "Maybe just something I thought I saw, or I thought I feel." His voice did not speak his mind, yet his reaction and body language gave it all to Jereau.

"Looks like someone has a fan." Morgan's loud voice made his co-workers jumped in their skin. "Too bad she don't know what she is looking at." He teased as he shouldered the younger man.

"Who? What fan?" A little fidgety, Reid blurted out nervously. The flush of his face drained a little as he could feel his hands became chilly. He knew it. He knew he was being watched. He was being followed by a familiar yet distant eyes.

Morgan let out a laugh. "The girl in purple has been smiling every time you pass by her. She even told Hotch you smelled familiar." His description made Reid jumped in his skin a little. "What's wrong with you? She has been here for a few days seeing her Uncle Aaron."

Letting out a huge sigh of relief, Reid smiled to himself. "I knew she looked a little familiar from somewhere." He began. "I thought I was being stalked." He uttered quietly as he felt his cheeks tingled with blood rushing.

"By who?" The deep quiet voice of his leader made Reid jumped again. No matter how long he has been working with the man, he could still crept up silently to make the younger man jump.

It was like he was pulled from reality back to his childhood when he saw the girl beside Hotchner. "Her." His voice squeaked out of his throat, as if his voice box protested from vibrating but his mind forced it anyway.

The young girl beside Hotchner smiled. Her long brown locks falls softly framing her chubby oval face. Her hazel green eyes were fixed on Reid, yet it looked so distant. "Katheryn Hotchner." She said extending her hand confidently in front of her.

One by one the BAU agents shook her hand and she gave a small wave to Reid. As if she knew that he was more of a small wave kind of guy rather than a hand shake guy. "Spencer…" Reid began but was cut off mid sentence.

"Reid. IQ 187. Graduated at 12 from Las Vegas, Nevada." Katheryn said, smiling slyly. "I'm not a stalker. I promise. You just don't remember. We have met before." She explained herself proudly. "Does the name Hayley Brett ring a bell?" She questioned. The young man hesitated. "For someone with an eidetic memory, you sure forget quickly, Smint." Her pretend whisper laced with a hint of wittiness.

A little stunned, Reid smiled as he began to remember the lost years of Dr. Spencer Reid. The dark hour of his life. "You were just 8. You moved when you were 8. At least that was what Dr. Micha told us." The smile on Reid's face was sincere. As if flicker of light lit instantly in his genius brain.

. "I was Hayley when I moved." Feeling the heavy shift in the air, Katheryn took the hint to change the subject on hand. "Anyways, I heard you guys and your technical highness, have been working very hard, and I owe my favourite uncle a lunch. Why don't we have dinner together, a little later. At my place. I do live with a great cook and Aaron can vouch for the spectacular of his culinary brilliance." Katheryn suggested. "He's not really my uncle. I just like to call him that to get on his nerves, which never works." The young brunette said in a whispery voice although the whole team could hear her.

"Well, it's a step better than being called daddy." Hotchner smiled as he wrapped his arms around the younger girl protectively.


	2. Chapter 2

A soft curve formed on Reid's face as he looked down on his mobile phone. "Someone is smiling a lot." Morgan teased as he sat in the seat beside the younger agent in the coffee house, stealing a peek his handheld computer.

"It must have been nearly 15 years since I last saw her. I couldn't even recognise her. And she knew me just by my scent. Do I smell 'minty'?" Reid questioned. "I never thought someone would remember me, well someone besides my mother."

Morgan crooked a sly smile as he spoke. "You're not easy to be forgotten, Reid. Maybe you're special to her." Reid just smiled at that statement. She was special to him. She got him to talk and to help other kids. She got him to be comfortable enough to touch and to be touch by people.

_Flashback_

He was not the most sociable person in the centre, yet when he saw the little frail girl who was sitting all alone, fidgety and scared, he knew who he was looking at. She was him. She was him 5 years ago. She was him when he was unsure of himself.

"Hello." The young boy's voice trembles as he pretended to be brave. Pretending to act like a big brother that he is. "I'm Spencer. Reid." He said as he extended his hand in front of the little girl. She just smiled nervously. "It's okay, little girl." He said quietly. "I don't like touching people too."

The little girl quickly shook her head. "I'm sorry. No. Sorry." She said quietly, trying to fight the restraint in her mind. "I can't see." She spoke as her hand flail searching for the speaking subject in front of her. "My name is Haley."

"Haley." An older voice spoke startling both of them. "I see you made a friend. Are you okay, Reid? Do you think it would be fine if I leave her with you for a while?" She questioned.

Reid just nodded. He too was still quite reserve compared to most other children at the day care centre. "I can read to you if you want." He spoke quietly as the caretaker walked away. "Or I can walk you over to the swing." He offered.

The little girl smiled. "You smell like mint on a hot sunny day." She said so quietly, smiling to herself. "I'd love to read if I could." She said quietly.

"Alrighty then, reading it is. What do you want to hear?" He questioned. The younger girl just shrugged her shoulders. Ruffling through his favourite shelf, he read the titles. "Right. We have 'Little Princess', 'Little Women', 'Heidi' and my personal favourite 'The Secret Garden'."

The little girl giggled. "My brother never finished reading 'The Secret Garden' to me." She said. Reid smiled. He never needed to ask why. He never needed to know the reason. He picked the book and sat beside the little girl at the corner.

Gently he pulled Haley closer to him as she laid her head on his chest. Her shy, reclusive mannerism presented to him as a classic sufferer from Asperger Syndrome. Something that he too had to fight with almost all his life.

_End Flashback_

Crimsoning Reid smiled. "She was the first person I read to. Why did she change her name? And what is her relation to Hotch?" Reid blurted out the questions ran through his head, Knocking on every cells in his brain trying to find an answer.

Morgan just shrugged his shoulders. "She's pretty cute though." Morgan teased. "I'm sure her Uncle Aaron wouldn't mind her dating a pretty boy like you." He added as Hotchner shook his head ever so slightly as took a seat opposite Reid.

Even without words, Morgan could read Hotchner's body language. Lazily he stood up and sat opposite Jareau. "She talked about big brother Spence all the time. It never struck me once that he was you." Hotchner spoke as he placed his coffee cup in front of him. "She made you to be so, normal."

"I am normal." The younger agent retorted, then paused. "I think." Hotchner just smiled. Reid knows he could be a little neurotic at times, but he never thought that people think of him as not normal. "How come I knew her as Haley?" Spencer question.

The group leader knew that the question would come up sooner or later. Even Sean asked him the same question when she was forced the name she had now. "She's one of the witness in the protection program. At the age of 4, she was placed in CPS. Then she was given back to the system at the age of 8, which was when my parents decided to save her from the future disappointment that she might face."

The younger agent just nodded. "So her name is Katheryn? Or is that another alias?" Reid probed some more. Hotchner just smiled. "Hotch, she used to have Asperger's. She was like me. She could not even handle people touching to guide her."

"She had you to teach her that there were people she could trust." Hotchner replied. "What do you actually remember about Haley?" It was his turn to question the young agent.

Reid shook his head. "Just the apparent stuff, her name, she was hard of sight and she had a hard time trusting people." He responded. "Why?"

It has been 20 years. Yet, Hotchner still could not even identify the man that haunted the mind of his sister. 20 years, yet she still have nightmares about the night. "Do you remember anything that she might have said to you or something that she might have told you before she went away?"

Reid straightened up a little as he shot his unit leader with a questioning look. "What's going on Hotch?" Reid's voice was filled with scepticism. "Does it have anything to do with her being in the New York office?" He speculated.

Hotchner shook his head. "She's just visiting me." He began. Reid just nodded. "And collecting some data for her dissertation." He said with a hint of pride in his voice. "She's finishing her Ph.D in child psychology."

He was so sure that it was not the work nor was it the solemn smile of the brought little girl he once knew. Yet somehow, he could feel there was something wrong with her. "Yesterday, when Sean pulled you away, you came back pretty flushed. Is there something wrong with Katheryn?" Reid fished.

The older man just shook his head. "It's nothing really. Something from the past that has been haunting us as a family." A subtle hint of grief and pain somehow lingered in the resonance of Hotchener's voice.

Reid sat back in his chair, hoping that he was not too forward with his superior. "I'm sorry if I was being rude." He began.

"Reid, it has nothing to do with you. Or her life in Vegas, she loved it there. She was sick a lot in high school. She could not even go to her graduation because she was just too weak." Hotchner began. Before the younger boy could even ask about what was wrong, Hotchner shook his head.


	3. Chapter 3

Katheryn sighed at her other brother. "I told you specifically not to tell him until we get the final confirmed result back, Sean." Katheryn said as she purposely ignore another message from her eldest brother. "This is specifically why I don't want you to tell him." She continued as she hand her mobile for her brother to read them out loud. "Your just making him worry about non-existent things."

Sean browse through the rows of messages stacked on Katheryn's phone. "Hey, you know Aaron is the only one who keep calling you Tia, and he would never tell me why." He said jokingly as he grabbed her wrist and tug her softly so she would stop pacing and sit down. "Maybe I should start calling you Tia as well, then maybe. Just maybe, you would open up to me more. And there's one by Spencer R." He added cringing at the name.

"I know, Aaron must have asked him to text me for him. And don't you dare call me that." Katheryn hissed. "If I tell you why, would you tell him that I'm fine and we'll tell him the result once it comes out, so he could stop calling me every 15 minutes." She replied with a softer tone.

Sean wraps his arm around his sister's shoulder and pulled her closer. "Come on, Katy, you used to be closer to me. You fight with Aaron all the time. How come he knows more about you than I do?" He question.

"Because he's a lawyer and now an FBI agent." Katheryn replied slyly. Sean just sat up straighter, clearing his throat. "But then, you're my favourite cook. He only knows everything about my past, but you still know more about me of who I am now." She said childishly as she snuggled up to Sean. "My birth name is Katja McCabe." She whispered softly.

Sean pulled away. "As in Reverend McCabe's McCabe?" He questioned.

Katheryn smiled as she nodded. "There are things that he keeps from us that is for our own good." She said ignoring the lump that was forming in her throat. "I learned that the hard way." The soft smile was wiped off her face and a wash of glum took place in the brightness.

There were a lot of things that Aaron never told the two of them. There were a lot of details he would leave out just to protect the innocence of his two younger siblings. He just did not want then to feel and know the pain of life. He was just trying to protect them.

A wave of silence flooded the room as Sean felt his arms move protectively curling them self protectively around his sister. "When Aaron asked me. I could never lie to that man. Not about you." He said softly.

Katheryn nodded in agreement. She knew how 'persuasive' her eldest brother could be. "We kept it from him the last time." She whined.

Sean let out a small laugh. "That did not really happen, though." He spoke softly. "He just pretended like he did not know." He spoke, as Katheryn's mobile phone vibrated against the lacquered ash wooden coffee table. "He's calling you, Katy. He's going to keep calling you until you pick up."

The vibration died and it began again. The young girl sighed but she still refuses to pick them up. "I cannot do it, Sean. I cannot tell him his worst nightmare." Katheryn protested. The elder of the two took in a huge amount of air before he began to speak.

Like an angel was watching over her, their doorbell rang. "Expecting someone?" Sean questioned his little sister quietly. Katheryn playful face turned frightened. "I'm here. Don't worry." He said quickly as he led Katheryn to a corner, shielding her from the outside world. "Who is it?" He called.

Slowly walking towards the dresser where he kept his Glock in. Carefully and quietly he unlock his small weapon in his palm. "Sean, are you kids home?" The familiar voice seeped through the heavy wooden barrier that separates them.

"Aaron?" Katheryn questioned as she took a step forward. Her palms were cold. Beads of sweat trickling down her back and forehead felt like melted ice against her skin. "Aaron is that you?" Her voice became visibly louder.

Sounded a little relief, Agent Hotchner sighed. "Yes Tia. It's your favourite uncle." Katheryn could hear a laced up giggle seeping through his words. "Now can the both of you please open the door?" His up tight tone relaxes a little.

Locking his gun and placing it back in the drawer, Sean sighed. Katheryn heads towards the door and welcomed her eldest brother with a big warm embrace. "It would help if either of you could answer your phone." Aaron spoke. His lips cocked into a tiny grin as he saw Sean locking the drawer beside him.

"I told you we should have saved the lasagne." Katheryn said turning a little too quickly towards Sean. As if all her blood drained from her face, Katheryn grabbed on to her eldest brother. "I'm fine." She said quickly.

Sean just shook his head. "Do you want some water?" He asks casually. It almost seemed like there was hovers of emotions floating over his head as Aaron eyed his younger brother. Katheryn just shook her head as a reply. There were too many things he needed to tell his older brother. There were too many things he wanted advise for, but he could never betray the trust he had been building with his younger sister.

"I want to go out for ice cream." Katheryn replied suddenly. The reaction on Sean's face just revealed everything to his older brother. "Can we?" Katheryn questioned.

Struggling to retain his composure, Sean chocked out a sound. "Sure." Katheryn heard. She rose from her seat and made her way to him. "What is it, pretty girl?" He spoke softly. She just shook her head in response. "Come on then."

"I'm going to be fine, Sean. I promise you. We're going to be fine." Katheryn said as she touches her elder brother. "We're going to get through this. We got through it the last time." Aaron looked at his two younger siblings questioningly. "Aaron is just fine. And I'm still here."

His jaw clenched. His muscle tightens. "You are presenting again. I can't lose you. Not again. I can't lose you again." Sean trembled as he spoke. Katheryn just embraced him close. "I cannot lose you again."

Her gentle touch of the pad of her fingers traced the silhouette of Sean's face. "I'm not leaving you that easily, big brother." Her voice so gentle that it seeped in Sean.


	4. Chapter 4

The soft hand touched his shoulder as he looked up. "Want something to drink?" Katheryn said as she made her way to the kitchen. Aaron just shook his head. "You have to speak up, big brother." She said softly as she walks over towards the fridge.

Clearing his throat quietly, Aaron replied. "I'm good. You should really be careful handling hot water." He said quietly as he stood up and neared the young lady. Katheryn just smiled. "Tia, can we talk?" He questioned gently.

Katheryn just let out a short laugh as she shook her head. "Do you even have to ask?" She said as she lead her brother back to the sofa. "Yes, Agent Hotchner, what am I accused of this time around?" She questioned as she place the steaming cup of cocoa on the table and snuggled up and leaned her head on Aaron's chest.

"Well, I got this report from a cook from New York, saying that his little sister had became reclusive and unsociable." Aaron replied playfully as he laced his fingers through Katheryn's hair.

Sighing, Katheryn straightened up a little. "I…" She hesitated before continuing. "Well, you know how Sean is." She continued. The subtle change in the breathing rhythm of her brother somehow made her sighed a little. "He's using again, Aaron." She began but her voice was reduced to a whisper. "He's using, he's drinking a lot. I'm worried about him." She professed.

Aaron drew in a deep breath. He knew his brother had had a few personal demons to fight in the past, but he truly thought that he was changed. "How long has it been?" He questioned. Katheryn just shook her head. "Did he do anything to you?"

Gently shifting her weight and getting to a proper sitting position, Katheryn buried her face in her palms. "No." she said quietly. "But it hurts seeing him like he was. Shivering, trembling in pain and giving up on himself… It hurts more watching him like that most of the days and knowing I am the cause." Warm liquid pooling in her lids threatened to fall over.

"Hey." Gently Aaron wiped off the tears trailing down her cheek with the pad of his thumb. "He's not your responsibility." He said softly. "He needs you to talk to him. He saw you in pain, and he could not handle it. You see…" Aaron spoke softly. "How much do you see?" He questioned.

Katheryn broke into a soft smile. "Lights, shadows. It's still very blur." She replied. "I know this would be temporary. I know this is a bad sign, but at least I can see. I want this." Her voice pleading.

Aaron smiled. "Can you see me?" He asked.

Concentrating her sight, Katheryn smiled. "You look like James Dean with a little more scruff." She said giggling. Aaron just let out a laugh. "No I can see the silhouette of your face." Aaron shook his head. "That I can see. I've always been able to see movement."

"Do you remember the last thing you saw?" Aaron questioned. Katheryn just smiled. "Seriously, not the pink piggy bank." He said.

Katheryn made a face to her brother. "What do you want me to say?" She asked. "The piggy bank has been with me since I was two I guess. It's the only one that I was allowed to take with me when I was moved to Vegas anyway."

Aaron sighed. "I know this would be sad. I have to tell you the truth." He said with a more serious tone. "I am very sad to say but Pinky is actually purple." He said bursting into laughter.

"I'm sorry." Katheryn began as his laughter subsided. "I mean I know I worry you a lot. I wasn't there when you were hurt. When you were attacked."

Aaron stopped. "Why are you saying this?" He asked softly. "I told you not to come remember. I asked you not to be there and not to check up on Jack and Haley, remember." He said softly.

"I almost never hear you laugh anymore. I miss hearing you laugh like that." Katheryn spoke. Before Aaron could even protested Katheyrn interjected. "I know you'd say 'It's not my fault', but I know I am a few percent of the cause of them." Aaron just receded back into his comfort zone. "Aaron." A soft hum sounded as his breathing laboured a little. "Are you okay?" She questioned suddenly.

"I'm fine. Just getting old." He said quietly. His arm still curled tight around Katheryn's shoulders.

"It's hurting again, isn't it?" Katheryn questioned. Aaron just smiled. "Is it bad?"

Aaron drew a deep breath as he shook his head. "You know what hurt worse?" He questioned. Katheryn did not even need to answer as he spoke. "These wound will heal in time and the pain will go away. But seeing you sad, seeing Sean ruining own life is even worse than being stabbed over and over again." He spoke. Katheryn froze. "Don't say you are sorry, pretty girl. You have nothing to be sorry about. You have done nothing wrong. " He continued. "It's just that sometimes I wish you could talk to me like we do before. You could tell me things that you could tell Sean."

Katheryn just smiled. "I never told him anything that I couldn't tell you. It's the age gap thing. He just knows. He watches me every day. Day in day out. Mom used to ask him to take me everywhere he goes and I just had to tag along. I don't want to burden any of you anymore."

"You were never one." Aaron retorted. "Never to me or Sean or anyone." He paused. "Hey, We knew what we were getting into when we took you. We knew what a great person you were. I wanted to take you in. It was me. So that makes me responsible on you and I left you with my mother and then dumped you with Sean."

Katheryn smiled. "You adopted Katja McCabe. Daughter of a serial killer and a child rapist. You left Katheryn Hotchner with your mother to be a better person." She was always good with her words, even better than he was. "Aaron, wouldn't it be my turn to take care of my family too now?" She questioned. "Sean is my brother as much as he is yours."

"But you're our baby sister." Sean said quietly as he sat beside Katheryn.

Katheryn squinted at him fiercely. "I was eight. I was never a baby when you met me." She countered.

"You're still our baby." Aaron chipped in.


	5. Chapter 5

He almost tripped his way to his own chair as he was walking smiling to himself exchanging text with an old friend. "You better not be sending those text to Katheryn." Morgan teased the younger boy. Reid just smiled. "You are aren't you?" He spoke with a more excited tone but in a quieter voice. "Hotch is going to kill you if he knew."

"Knew what?" The unit chief said as he walked past the two of his younger colleagues. Morgan just flashed him a sly smile as Reid just shook his head shoving his phone deep inside his pocket. Aaron shook his head as he spoke. "Tell Katy that I'll pick her up at the airport later."

Reid's cheerful face turned fearful. "How long do you really think you can keep texting her before she tells on her brother?" Jereau questioned. Reid fair skin began to crimson. "You really do like her don't you?" She questioned.

"I… The last time I saw her, she was still a little baby. I put her to bed till the last day that she was there." Reid replied. "She's just…" He trailed, looking for the perfect word to describe the young lady Katheryn is now. "So beautiful." He said quietly.

Agent Jereau just smiled. "Now, Hotch is really going to pick your bone piece by piece." She said smiling at the young genius.

"Or Sean is." Rossi added from behind mocking the younger agent a little. As an older agent, he somewhat like the unseen respect that the younger agents gave him.

Reid just smiled as he looked down once again to his phone. 'I'll be arriving in Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport at 6pm. Maybe if you have sometime, we could go out to lunch tomorrow. I'll deal with Aaron later.' The message read.

Looking out the glass separating him from his teammate, Aaron focused his vision on the young man, who were a little red from being teased. He knew he could trust the young man. He would even trust his own life in the young man's hand when it was needed. Yet for some reason he just have the urge to question the man's every move when he was with his little sister. Somehow he felt a little doubtful.

He was not sure what had gone over him, but he too felt that Reid would be a good friend to her. It was just that he felt almost like he was going to lose her completely if he had to compete with another person for her attention. "Reid. Can you come to my office." Hotchner said through the intercom.

Flashback

He was the one going away but somehow he felt it was harder for him to leave her in his house rather than leaving his own family. He was packing his bags in the trunk of his car when the little girl appeared beside him. "You know I'm going to harass you every single meal you have right?" The little girl said.

Aaron smiled as he bow down on his little sister. Foster sister. "You are safer here, Tia. I cannot bring you with me and I cannot send you back to the system." He sighed.

Katheryn's brow furrowed. "I like it here. Why would I want you to place me somewhere else, or why would I want to move when I have already adapted to the school system here?" She said chirpily. "Besides I get to keep an eye on Sean. He's not as smart as mom thinks he is." She said in a slightly whispery voice.

The elder one smiled as he hugged the visually challenged child in front of him. "Call me any time you need to talk." He said worriedly. "I love you Tia. Please, please take care of yourself and be careful of what you say to other people. And please don't be such a wise little girl and have boyfriends." The young girl just smiled slyly. He knew she has a crush on the boy at he end of the street waiting for his car to drive away, waiting for his time to meet her.

End Flashback.

Reid knocked softly on his officer's door. "Yes, sir?" His voice filled with uncertainty.

"Relax, Reid I'm not going to dismember you or pick your bones clean." Hotchner said as he motioned for the younger one to sit down. "I had planned tonight with a friend for a while and I have Lindsey to baby sit Jack for me. If you have no plans, could you please help me pick up Katheryn. I mean Hayley. Which name is she using for you?" Hotchner asked.

Reid had never dreamed of being offered to pick up the one person he was afraid to date. "We settled at Katy." He said as the rush of blood to his cheeks betrayed him. Hotchner smiled. "Yeah, I can send her to your house."

Hotchner stern look soften at the younger man. "Reid, you don't have to worry. She has had boyfriends or crushes or whatever it is you kids are calling it nowadays. I would rather she's with you rather than a stranger that I don't know." He said softly. Reid let out a huge breath of relief as he heard the words from his superior. "Although she does have the habit of telling me what's going on with her life most of the time." He said, teasing, smiling to the younger agent.

There could not be a better match for her than the young man who is sitting in front of them right now. There could not be a better match for him. Yet he could not figure out why those little pesky whispers in his head would not go away. Protecting, shielding the young lady like a little baby like she in no longer is.

Smiling reassuringly, Hotchner caught the younger man's eyes. "I know I am being a father, but it's the only way that I know that she will be safe." He admitted. Reid just nodded to the older agent knowingly. He too felt the same.


	6. Chapter 6

It was a strange sensation for him to be unbelievably anxious about his looks to a blind girl. "Katy." He called out as soon as he saw the young girl, alone, lost in the place of thousands. She snapped her head towards his direction. He stood still. Nervous. Afraid to move. Afraid that she would just be a mirage that he would lose again.

Cautiously the young girl advanced toward the voice. "Aaron?" She spoke softly to herself. "Come on big brother, I can't find you in this crowd." Katheryn spoke softly as tears brimmed her eyes. "Come on Aaron. Move." She said quietly.

"Katy." Reid called again as he advanced towards her. "Hey. Are you okay?" He questioned as soon as he approached her. Katheryn just nodded. "Aaron didn't tell you I was going to pick you up?" He questioned.

Katheryn shook her head. "He didn't tell you that I am afraid to be in a crowd?" She asked cynically yet softly. Her body trembling, her eyes glazed with fear.

"Hayley…" Reid began to speak but he paused. "I mean Katheryn, I didn't know. I'm so sorry." He said apologetically. Katheryn shook her head as she placed her hand softly on Reid's shoulder. "Why don't you use your cane anymore?"

Katheryn shot him a sly smile. "Because everyone I met was intimidated by it. Besides, I studied echolocation anyways, it's a waste if I don't practice them." She quipped. Reid let out a small laugh as he open the car door for the young lady. "Thank you." She felt the car pulled out of the parking lot as Reid began to ramble from nervousness. "Hey, my name might be Katheryn Hotchner now, but I'm still the little Hayley, that you once knew." She said softly as she played with her fingers.

"You really should get a hand cream for that, you know. You're not four anymore." Reid said as he kept his eyes on the road. Instinctively Katheryn balled her fingers into a fist. "Hotch, I mean Aaron told me that you are not much of a talker. Neither am I. This is going to be a long drive." He started.

Katheryn sighed. "You know I did tell about you to Aaron and Sean. He however never told me that you were working with him." She replied. "In fact he almost never talk about work at all with any of us."

Reid cocked a grin. "And he never talked about his family at work. Well at least not to any of us, maybe except for Rossi or Gideon." His words trailed towards the end.

"Maybe because Uncle Dave and Jason is closer to us and we've known them longer." Her voice seemed a little pained to speak of the two names together. "Anyway, did Aaron tell you why he couldn't pick me up tonight?"

Reid shrugged. "No idea. He said he had something going on." He said with a hint of doubt in his voice. Katheryn just nodded. "Why?" He questioned.

Katheryn shook her head as she fingered the watch on her right wrist. "It's still early. Do you have a little time to go for dinner maybe?" She requested. Reid just glanced at her quietly. "You do know that Aaron is on a date right?" Katheryn smiled cockily.

"How do you know?" Reid questioned. Katheryn just replied with a giggle. "I mean you were still expecting him to pick you up right?"

"I was expecting him to bring Jack to pick me up. I miss my little man. He's always a great talk." Katheryn replied. "He's getting so big and so smart. He always know what to say and at exactly at the right time. And he's very handsome too you know. He's totally going to be a heart breaker when he grows up." How her face glowed as she spoke about her little nephew. As if she was the only one in the world who has a nephew.

Reid let out a soft laugh under his breath. "You really love your nephew don't you?" Reid questioned. It was not a big surprise to him. She had always been really good with kids. "You remember Tony?" Reid questioned. It was like some kind of thinking mill started working again. "He was a really really active kid, and you were the only one who could keep him still enough for him to start doing his homework."

Katheryn turned towards Reid squinting. "You know, the very last thing I saw before it went totally blank was you." She said suddenly. She could hear the man beside him gulped. "At least the last blurry face I have ever seen with what little sight I had left at that time."

"You never told me that before." Reid said as he pulled over and parked his car in front of a chain of restaurants. "What do you feel like having?" He asked suddenly. "Italian, Japanese or pancakes?"

The young lady smiled. He knew what her answer would be. "Pancakes and milk shakes are the best meal for any time of day." She said with her lips stretched ear to ear with joy. "Aaron and Sean would never let me eat in a restaurant alone. I don't really remember why, but it has been that way ever since."

Reid opened the door as he held out his hand. "This really feels like old times doesn't it?" He said as she reached for his hand. "So, if you don't hear my voice you can't see me?" He questioned. Katheryn just smiled at him. "How do you live with Ho.. Aaron?" He questioned. "He's the quietest person I know."

Katheryn broke out into laughter. "Seriously?" She questioned. "You should put him in a room with Sean. He could not shut up." She continued pausing only to order. "Blueberry pancake and vanilla milkshake." She said.

"I'll have the same with coffee please." Reid said to the waitress. "Hold on, are you sure you are blind, I see no sign that you are right now." He questioned.

She giggled at the older boy in front of her. "As a profiler, you really are bad at your job." She said. "You see with your eyes, I see with both my ears and nose." She smiled. "And some times my hands."

The young man smiled softly. "Why does Aaron, worry about you all the time? Can I just call him Hotch? I'm not used to calling him Aaron." Reid sighed at his own awkwardness.

"I used to call him that before they officially changed my name. Aaron seemed a little too biblical." Katheryn giggled. "I used to call him Hotchy though."

Being the profiler that he was Reid just smiled as he sat a little straighter opposite the young girl. "Come on, Katy, why is he so worried?" Reid questioned. Smiling Katheryn just shrugged. "He said something about your past and it's haunting you and your family."

Uncomfortably, Katheryn shifted in her seat. "I'm not sure what he was trying to say, but I would have to say that I had a whole warehouse full of demons in the past." She replied. "Hey, Spence, do you think you could interrogate me some other time. I'm not up to be interrogated today." She sighed.

A little hint of panic began to creep up inside Reid's skin. "I'm sorry." He said quickly. "I didn't mean to…" He paused "I mean, I thought there was something wrong with you." He said quickly.

Sighing Katheryn gave him a solemn smile. "Spence, I know you mean good. If I do tell you about what Aaron talked about that night, you have to promise me not to pity me. And I need you to promise me that you would never be broken hearted." She said seriously as her hands searched for his. Reid nodded. "Reid I like you. I have always do. I need to hear the words."

He was quick to receive her hands. "I promise." He said quietly.


	7. Chapter 7

The soft flicking ray licked her skin softly as she felt a small body moved beside her. He smelt so fresh. Just like his late mother. She could feel his little hands wrapped around her arm finding comfort in what little safety that little space he occupied.

The door cracked open as the whiff of burnt toast and lightly charred scrambled eggs filled the air. "Shh." Katheryn hushed her big brother softly as she placed one finger on her pale lips.

"Are you feeling alright?" Aaron's tired voice filled with concern as he sat on the foot of his sister's bed. "Did he make you stay up late?" He questioned softly. Katheryn just shook her head.

The young Hotchtner tighten his embrace slightly as Katheryn softly caressed his hair. "You are safe here with us little guy." She whispered softly, kissing his little forehead lightly. "I'm fine, big brother. You worry too much you know." She spoke softly.

Her forehead wrinkles a little as she fought back to keep her dinner from yesterday from spraying all over the little guy who was stuck to her. "You'd tell me if you are not feeling well right?" Aaron questioned his little sister. Katheryn nodded.

"Can you try not to profile me first thing in the morning big brother?" Katheryn voice strained a little as she spoke. Aaron placed his roughened hand gently on hers. "I'm fine, the headache comes and go every now and then. It's normal." She said softly. "Please don't tell him." She said quietly. "He don't need another sad story right now."

Aaron sighed. "He shouldn't have to bury another coffin anytime soon either." He retorted. Katheryn nodded. "Tia?" His voice was questioning yet the sound of it was wretched with grief. "What is it?"

Katheryn moved her body carefully not to wake the little Hotchner as she laid his head on her pillow gently. "I had to tell Spencer." She began. "He was so worried, he saw you talking with Sean, and you were different after that. I did not tell him anything about what happened to me, I never did. I told him about the cancer. He's going to be super weird and super withdrawn. That's the Spencer that I knew. You just have to keep telling him that I'll get better, I'm better." She said as she sat opposite her brother.

"Do you remember?" Aaron questioned. Katheryn wrinkled her nose at her brother. "Too early?" He questioned his sister. His touch was the gentlest it has been for a while. As if she could break if he even blink too hard.

Katheryn shook her head. "Aaron, you can't blame yourself for something that happened to me before you even know me." She said quietly. "I know you are still beating yourself up because of it. I know you would not rest until you caught the man who broke me." She said quietly. "Aaron, I'm here with you now. I'm going to be here. I will be here as long as you want. I will not let go if you are not ready."

Flashback

The first time he saw the little girl he was still a prosecutor. He followed her case from the day they took her out of her house into the child protective custody. She was four. She was only four, yet, she had endured pain that even most adults could never even imagined.

His first sight of her was a nightmare. He could not get the image of the black and blue baby lying lifeless on a stretcher bleeding from every pore she had. He had never seen some one who was so badly injured that she lost her sight and still survive.

It was not a surprise that she was afraid of a person's touch. It was not a surprise that even the softest creak would scare the life out of her. It took her a month to get food through her scarred throat. Three before she let anyone without a glove touch her. It took him almost six full months before she even began to say her first word to anyone. Her first word to him.

"It's Tia." Her first word to him. He could not remember what made her speak or what made her believe in him. "You are Hotchy right?" She questioned.

He remembered her trying to figure out where he was in the room. He also remembered her saying that it was not fear of touch that made her flinch at each touch, but it was the excruciating pain that she felt. It was from bruising her little body had endure of what four years she had inhibit them.

"Hotchy, thank you." Was her last word to him before the temporary foster parents took her away. He remembered the talkative little girl recoiled into her shell of darkness only an hour after the transfer was made.

She had Asperger Syndrome they concluded.

End Flashback

"Hey," Her voice soft. "I'm not going to break or runaway again you know." She said softly as she made her way off the bed. "I'm going to try to find a job near here, at least I could double as Jessica's companion when she have to take care of Jack when you're gone on business."

Aaron cracked a smile. "Maybe I could help with you with that." He said finally. "Or maybe, you told someone who was willing to help before telling me." He teased. He wanted to see her blush. To see some colour in her face. But none to his avail.

A glum smile was the only reply she gave. "Maybe you are being too over protective as you had been for the past few years." She suggested. "Aaron, listen." Pulling her big brother who was hovering feet off the ground back to the sound ground. "I do not know how long do I have to live, nor do I know when I will be sick again, but I know at this moment. At this very second, I have almost everything that I wanted. I have you, I have Sean. I never even dream of going to school and I received my graduation scroll with every one at my side. I cannot ask for more Aaron. I don't want to. It would not be fair."


	8. Chapter 8

Her fingers ran through the pages as she sipped the hot cup of cocoa on the table. The soft thud in the back of her head is the constant reminder that her time might be running up. The soft whiff of the mix of soft rose petals on the breezy spring orchard with a little dash of mint and all the right spices.

"You must be Katheryn." She said as she pulled out the chair opposite the young girl. "I'm Beth." Sad as she reached for the girl's hand. Katheryn felt an impulse to jerk her hands back, but her brain protested and just let the lady touch her.

Politely she smiled. "Aaron have been telling me a lot about you." She said. Her awkwardness and discomfort was apparent but she was trying her hardest to keep them at bay.

Beth placed her order then turned back towards the younger girl opposite her. "And me you." She said. "But he never really tell anything. He kept talking about how proud he was with you. And nothing else." She said.

A rush of crimson liquid flooded Katheryn's cheeks. "He makes a big thing about everything." She said humbly. "He said he was supposed to meet us here right?" She questioned suddenly.

"Yeah." Beth answered. "I guess he is a little late." She said noticing the the state of unease which Katheryn was in. "Did I say something, or remind you about something?" She asked cautiously. Katheryn shook her head. "What is it?" She questioned.

Katheryn drew in a deep breath. "It's just that I'm never comfortable around people I don't know and this is the very first time I'm with a stranger, well at least still a stranger." She said as she picked on her nails concealing her trembling hands. "It has nothing to do with you, or me being here, it's jut that I'm like this all the time." She continued. " And this is my first time outside with another person." The young girl admitted.

Beth scrunched her eyebrows. Hesitant. "Maybe I should call, Aaron." She said suddenly as she fished her mobile out of her bag. "Hey, I'm not going to hurt you." She said softly.

The tinkling icy cold sweat traced the outline of her back as she stared down at the nothingness. She drowned herself in the distant sound of everything. Vulnerable to even the slightest tickle. She has never been that scared. She has never been that worried since she was eight.

Flashback

She knew it must be the day her foster father was coming back as she could smell fresh rose air freshener and cinnamon bread as she stepped into the house.

Yet the stench of week old beer was still circulating the air. "Your father and brother is coming home today. Do not ruin it for them." The person who was taking care of her at that time yelled from the one-seater that she had never seen her up from.

The young girl just nodded. She started to make her way to what little space that she was given as a bedroom when she felt the rough hand pulled her tiny frame. She shut her eyes as a single drop of warm droplets roll down her right cheeks.

End Flashback

Katheyrn shut her eyes tightly as she drew in a deep breath. "I'm sorry Beth, it's not you. It's just something that I have to fight with everyday." She said quickly.

The lady just smiled. "Aaron told me that you have anxiety problems." She began. "Hey, I'm not judging you, or do anything to you. You have to trust me." She said softly. The trembling girl nodded but she could still see that not only did she not calm her nerves down, she could almost hear her eyes scream for help. "Aaron is here." Her tone changed as soon as she sees the man figure walking towards them. Katheryn just forced a smile on her worried face.

"Hey, Beth." Hothner said as he approached the table. He just nodded at his girlfriend as she eyed the young girl across her. "Tia." He said as he touched her shoulders making her jumped a little. "I'm here. I'm sorry I'm late." He said as he sat beside his little sister. She caught his hand quickly as she held them hard.

Katheryn held his hand tightly as she let out a heavy sigh. Her palm were painted in cold sweat. Trembling. "I'm sorry I cannot do this." She whispered softly.

Aaron smiled softly. "You're doing fine." He said softly. "Isn't she, Beth." He said apologetically to her.

Smiling Elizabeth cocked a smile. "You're a brave girl. You're doing so good." She said supportively. 'I'm sorry.' Katheryn mouth as she forced herself to look up at the lady. "It's nothing to be sorry about." She said softly.

She was in the room playing with her little nephew, yet, her mind were somewhere else. Her mind was a million miles away from where she was. She heard the door creaked when she intuitively took Jack and sat quietly in the closet.

"It's daddy." Little Jack whispered softly to her. Katheryn just smiled. "Aunt Tia, it's just daddy." The little man said to her as he hugged her tight.

Aaron hung his jacket and placed his bag down as he called for his son and little sister. "Tia. Jack. Where are you?" He called for them. After the lunch earlier that day, he knew, Katheryn was not ready for another interrogation. Especially from him. As Jack came running to him, he knew that was it. He had to start it all again.

Little Jack looked up at him. His eyes questioned his aunt's past. He was questioning his father about the past that could possibly shatter his whole family. "Aunt Tia needs to be alone for now." His voice was strong. "She just needed a little time." He said way beyond his age. "We'll come out for dinner a little later."


	9. Chapter 9

It was so great to hear his voice even it has only been five hours since they had spoken to each other. "It's great to hear your voice." Katheryn said as soon as she answered her phone.

Sensing the discomfort in his sister's voice, Sean composed himself. "We just talked few hours ago." Sean said softly. "What's wrong pretty girl?" He questioned.

Katheryn just broke down. "I need to go back. I need to go back home to New York. I can't stay here. I can't stay here, Sean. I can't function. I can't be a normal human here. I thought I could get over it, I can't. I can't. I can't tell Aaron. I can't break his heart again. I know how bad it was for him to shape me to where I am today. I just can't Sean." Streams of tears rolled down freely down her face. "Please take me home." She begged.

He could not take her back. Not in his condition. He knew he could not take care of her how his elder brother could. He could not take care of her as how she would expected to be taken care of. He just could not bare to think that he would be the one responsible not only for her safety but also for her as a whole.

Yet he could not bear to hear the agony she was in. He had to. He just had to end the call and end the excruciating stabbing in his chest. He cut her off. He knew what a failure he was from the start, yet he still could not accept that he could let his own sister down.

The small body crept up her bed as he lays his head on her lap. "Aunt Tia." The little boy spoke as he wiped off her tears. "Please don't cry." The little Hotchner said. "Are you going to leave me again?" He questioned innocently.

Shaking her head. Katheryn just shook her head. "No, sport." She chocked her words as she spat them out. "I'm not going to leave you, little man. I just could not be here." She said softly. The young boy just clung to her as if he was clinging to his life. As if she was his last hope for the mother's love that he had limited time to.

Aaron just stood by the door. He did not know what to say. He did not have the profile for what had made his sister, his strong brave little warrior, to break down as she did that day. What had made the young lady who was able to pull through everything break down as she did.

_Flashback_

There were days that she could not even get out of her room when she first came to the house. It was his responsibility. She was, she is his responsibility. He was the reason she was there. Her tiny body curled up in a corner sobbing alone, afraid. Writhing, struggling to get free from the air that surrounded her.

He had to constantly try to break her wall. He had to constantly remind her that out side the four by four comfort space of hers there are still people who will keep her safe.

It was almost two months since she moved in but she could not handle people touching or even grazing her skin. They said it was Asperger Syndrome. But he knew better. Asperger's does not make a person recoil in fear, trembling at the touch or even a familiar scent. Asperger does not make a person wakes up screaming, gasping for air. Asperger's does not make a little girl pick at her every wound just to smell the irony scent of blood.

Asperger's most certainly does not make a little girl run away into her closet no matter how small it was at the creak of the door. "I'm not a psychologist, mom, but I have seen too many of these, just not on little girls. I've seen this reaction in war veterans in wounded soldiers." 29 years old Aaron Hotchner spoke softly to his terrified mother.

_End Flashback_

"Aaron?" The young girl sat up straighter as her long slander fingers run through the young boy's hair gently. "Aaron, I can smell your smelly cologne." She said softly.

With heavy steps he entered the guest room that he turned into her room. "I'm sorry about lunch." He said softly as he sat down beside her.

Katheryn sighed. "How much did you hear?" She asked. Aaron just shrugged his shoulders. "I can't stay here, Aaron." She began. "I know I am safe now, I know he might just be too old to be pulling his devious plot or he might have died for all I know but this place. This air. The possibility of just breathing the same air as he is, is just…" she trailed. "Just too terrifying."

The profiler just placed his hand on the small of her back. He could feel her pulse raced a little as he touched her. He could sense the fear she has for the place. "I'm not going to let you go through what you went through before, Tia. I'm here, you're safe now." Katheryn nodded. "Then what is it?" He questioned.

A soft sigh escaped her. "You saw what happened at lunch just now." She began. "It was lunch, Aaron. It was lunch with your girlfriend. Someone you trust. Someone I am sure I will be safe with. I had a panic attack in front of every one. I cannot function here, Aaron." She replied.

Aaron just nodded at his little sister. He knew she could not spend her whole life being cooped up in the house. He knows that she could not function as normal as she could if she went back on the medication as she had before. "Do you trust me?" He questioned. Katheryn began to speak when Aaron cut her off. "Do you trust that I can keep you safe?" He questioned.

"Yes." She hesitated. He had been keeping her safe all these years. He had been keeping her alive when the doctors only gave her 6 months to live. He trusted in her that she has the motivation to live.

"Tia, I'm going to find the bastard that ruined your life, the one who destroyed your childhood and the one that scarred your life so deep that you became the fearless lady you are now." Aaron whispers softly in her ears. "I promise you that and I'm going to keep to my promise."

Katheryn looked up to her brother and cracked a grin. Her face was hopeful. "And can you promise to let me go when the time comes?" She asked gently.

Aaron shook his head. "Don't stretch your luck there, pretty girl." His voice chocked, fighting the lump in his throat.


	10. Chapter 10

He was not sure whether he was making the right decision or was he just making a very selfish one. He knew how love struck the young man was since his first re-encounter with his little sister.

It was not that he does not approve with Reid and his little sister being together but he just does not want him or her to be heart broken. Especially Reid. The young man with the special mind. The young man he knew would be the best match to his little girl. The one girl that would break him in more ways than one.

The older Italian man came in his room as he made himself comfortable on the chair opposite him. "I know you are afraid of losing her again, you have to let her grow up. She's 28 for god's sake." David Rossi said to the wary man in front of him.

"She's still the blue girl who entered the emergency room that night Dave." Aaron retorted. Rossi just glared a disapproving look. "She still recoil in fear if she hears the floor creak. She still have panic attack when she smell roses in the air. She remembers the person who assaulted her Dave. She knows who that man was, but she just could, no she would not tell anyone."

Rossi cocked his eyebrow to Hotchner. "Maybe she would. Just not to you." He suggested. "You see, she sees you bearing all these load, all these burden on your shoulders and she just don't want to add to it anymore."

Aaron shook his head. "She knows that is never going to be possible. Ever. Because she knows no matter how big she is she is still the little baby that I held that day. And I tell her that every chance I have." He voice was in so much pain that it trembled on it's own.

"Hotch, I need to talk to you." Morgan said barging in his unit leader's room. Rossi looked at him. "And Rossi." He added. Hotchner nodded signalling him to enter. "A new lead on a cold case." He began. "They want the BAU team to review the case, but not you. They can't have you handling the case." He sighed heavily. "There is a conflict of interest."

A little disappointed yet he was as calm as he could be. When ever there was 'conflict of interest' there was always his younger brother. It had to be. At least it was in his mind. "Is Sean involved?" Hotchner questioned sceptically.

Morgan shook his head. "Katja McCabe is." He replied. Hotchner felt his whole world came crashing down on him. His whole family. The family he build with his own two hand, and the ones that he tries his hardest to protect with all his might.

"Who else knows?" Rossi questioned. Hoping for the case to be contained. Hoping that they could keep it within a very close circle. A circle that does not their young genius.

A little worried, a little doubtful, Morgan looked down to the floor upon his own decision earlier. "Me, Garcia and JJ." Morgan replied.

Rossi nodded. "Find Jason. And don't tell the others about Katheryn. Not just yet. Everything about her is on need to know basis only. As much as possible, try to make the visual to the minimum. Especially hers." He instructed. "Especially to Reid."

Holding his emotion back, Hotchner trembles a little. He let out a huge breath. "Hold the case for another day. I'll find a way to tell Spencer. We need him in this case." He looked away from the men in the room. "He might just hold the key to the answer after all."

The visually challenged girl walked down the steps as she smiled at the whiff of the scent of mint and chocolate. "Smint." She smiled. "Thank you for taking me out tonight Spence." She said gently.

The young man hold out his hand for her to reach as he guided her to his car. "I heard someone had a little melt down yesterday." He teased. Katheryn giggled a little. "Hey, I'll be here to protect you too, you know." He said.

She let out a soft laugh. "I know. It's just that I'm afraid." She replied. "I'm afraid you'd say that as well." She continued. "You know, could we just skip the theatre and go somewhere just the two of us." She suggested.

Sensing the heavy dark cloud a top her head Reid reached softly for her hand. "Your hand is so cold." He commented as his eyes never left the road. "What is it?" He questioned.

Katheryn placed her free hand on to of his. "I told you I had cancer right." She began. Reid just nodded. "I lied." She said quickly. Spencer glanced at the young lady beside him. "I have not even came clean to Aaron yet." She confessed. "I have them. I'm sick." She trembles. "And sometimes, it tempers with my brain. It makes my nightmare alive again. I'm dying, Spencer. And I'm scared." She bit her lips, holding back the inevitable tears that would flood the car. "I'm scared to hurt the people I love." She admits.

"Then you would rather crush them by keeping quiet?" Reid retorted as his grip tightens. "Or take them with you once you are gone?" HIs voice was quieten. "Do you know how long I spend trying to find you and came up with nothing? Do you know how painful it is hearing that you were gone? Not dead, just gone and unknown of."

Sighing Katheryn shrugged her shoulders. "Why me Spencer?" She questioned. "I was eight when you last saw me." She said. Spencer smiled. "Why me?" She questioned.

"Because I saw you 10 years ago and I was sure Katheryn Hotchner and Hayley Brett was the same person." Spencer said. "Who are you Katy?" He asked. "I mean who were you? I know who you are but I want to know who you were." He said.

Smiling Katheryn just shook her head. "That's a story for another time, old friend." She said softly. "That's a grim tale for another time."


	11. Chapter 11

The hissing of the television gave her comfort as her fingers ran through the braille book in front of her. Aaron took a seat beside his little sister as she took comfort in his embrace. "Pretending I'm 15 is not going to work anymore you know." She said as she closed her book.

Aaron sighed. "How many times have you read that book?" He questioned. Katheryn just answer him with a short laugh. "How did your date go?" He said trying to get her to talk. Katheryn just stared straight on, not disapproving, but neither will she encourage his ways. "But you are my 10 years old little baby." He insisted.

Playfully Katheryn elbowed her elder brother in the stomach. Groaning, Aaron curled in pain. It was real but he faced up a façade. "Oh god. Aaron, I forgot. I'm so sorry." She said as she straightened up. Aaron grabbed her arm and pulled her to sit back down beside him. "Aaron, I'm so sorry." She said again.

"It's fine, Tia." Aaron spoke softly. "Having my baby sister always makes me feel better." He said as he coiled his arms around his little sister once again. "How did your date go?" He pestered.

Katheryn stuck her tongue out to him. "Can he?" She questioned. "I mean would you give him the blessing to be my boyfriend?" She asked. "I mean not that I would need your blessing and what not, since he is working with you and he is you subordinate and he is also a very good looking boy for someone so awkward…" Katheryn rambled as she always does when she is nervous.

Clearing his throat a little Aaron laugh at that question. "Besides Sean I don't think I could trust anyone else with you. Not just anyone." He answered. "I will have to tell him who you really are at some point but for now, I guess, if you don't want to, I wouldn't tell him."

Shifting a little Katheryn was not sure how exactly should she break her concern to her brother. "It's really up to you." She said wearily.

Tucking her hair behind her ears, Aaron leaned over. "What is wrong, Tia?" He questioned. "Is the nightmare back?" He asked intuitively. Katheryn shrugged. "Did you remember anything?" He voice was a little more serious as she could feel the wrinkles in between his eyebrows furrowing. "Tia, if you do, you have to tell someone. Even if you would not tell me you have to talk to someone."

Shaking her head. Katheryn closed her ears with her hands. "I can't I don't want to know. I don't want to remember." Katheryn's voice tiny, begging for the one who protected her not to remind her about her past. "I can't, Aaron. I can't." She repeated. Aaron hushed her gently as his embrace tightens. His gentle protective shield as she would call it when she was younger. Katheryn just heaved a heavy breath. "When we had lunch, it was not Beth. I was not reminded by her scent or anything. I was not at all scared of her. It's just that." She hesitated as she began. "It's just that, I thought I sensed Gabe and Calhoun." She professed.

His body straightened as every muscle in his body tightens. He shut the television off, killing the hiss and the low hum of the invisible wave. "Why didn't you tell me?" He questioned. Katheryn shook her head. He knew exactly why she would not even hint those little facts to him. He would not even need a reason to search the premise. He would not even need a reason to be rational. "I didn't want to tell you this." He began. "I was told a new evidence surfaced." He could see the fear creeping up her every vein, gently, he caressed her hair, and constantly reminding her that she is safe. Nothing could take her from him. "But, I cannot be in the investigation. The rest of my team will be. I need your permission to reveal about your background to the team." He said. "I need to tell Reid."

Katheryn shook her head. "No. I will tell them. On one condition." She began. "Uncle Jason would have to come back." She said. "And Spencer can never know what happened to me when I was removed the last time I met him."

"I couldn't agree more." Aaron nodded. "Tia, you realised that you will need to know in order to tell them, right?" He questioned. There was reluctance in her movement. The was the uncertainty in her every twitch. Slowly she nodded. "Tia, are you sure you are ready?" He questioned.

"Not at this very moment. And Spencer knew me; he could know things about me that I don't know. He could remind me of things I could not remember. I cannot let him know. I " Katheryn admitted. "He calls it the lost years. Our lost adventures." She said.

He was worried to even suggest the procedure to her. He was afraid she was going to run for the door and would not come back to him. He was afraid that she would recoil back in her shell and become a recluse. "It's dangerous, but we could try hypnotism if you are up for it." Aaron suggested.

Pensively Katheryn nodded. "I also have another thing to tell you. Something Even Sean doesn't know." She sighed as she spoke. "This time I need you to just listen." She said prudently. Aaron agreed, yet deep inside he knew he could never keep calm every time she say those words. "It's about my tumour." The reluctance resonated in her voice. "It is back. I told the doctor to keep the information at the minimal for you and Sean." She paused to see if there were going to be any reaction from him. He was as still as a stone. He could not react to the very sentence she just said. "They scanned and it was not good. I was not feeling well and they did a full body scan this time. It has spread worse than any of us had expected." She shut her eyes as she held her brother's hand tightly. "It has entered my lymph nodes and spine." Her voice trembles as he felt her losing control over her own body. He felt as if he could slip away from him at any moment. "Soon, I may not be able to even walk or do anything on my own. If that time comes, I need. No. I want you to let me go." She pleaded.

Aaron pulled her close as he lost his battle with his emotions to contain his tears. "There is still a chance for a trial right?" His pleading voice questioned. "You can still try. One more time, Tia. All I'm asking for is one more time." Not wanting to let her brother down, Katheryn nodded.

"I'll do anything." Katheryn replied. "I'll do anything, but please don't cry. I need you to be strong." She spoke. "I need you to be strong for me and for Sean." She knew she too would break down if he does. She would not have taken the same path she had been if it was not for him. She owed it to him. She is his. She belongs to him. More than a sister. More than just a sister.


	12. Chapter 12

The burning pain tore her skin as she felt the sharp needle pierce her skin. "Aidan, please don't. I don't know where she is. I don't know where she have been for so many years." The pale skinned red haired woman begged for the masked figure in front of her to stop.

The masked figure just hissed at her. "Aidan's dead. He has been dead a long time. He died the day his daughter was taken from him." He growled roughly. His hands were trembling as it was moving swiftly controlling the tattoo gun in his hand.

"Aidan, why are you doing this? Why are you destroying yourself? You are much better than him. You and Kieran are not the same. You are good." She cried. "You were never like him. You are better." She coaxed.

Behind the black ski mask, a smirk formed on his face. On what space of mind is Aidan better than him? In what sense is the little imbecile is remotely finer than he was. He was the alpha male of the family. He was even better than his own father.

The blood of the reverend felt amazing against his hand. Too bad the old man was tough. He could have sworn that he did nip the right artery. He was sure enough that if the little brat did not call the ambulance, he would have succeeded. He could have continued his father's legacy. He could have been his youngest prodigy.

"He was never better." His taunt rustled against her ears. "He can never, and will never be better than I am." He sneered. "That little bastard is dead. The little prick died as Kieran McCabe. That little scum took everything from me." He screamed.

Her bloodied mouth agape. She buried him. She cried for him. She grieved for him for months after he was buried. "But, I buried you." She stammered. "I buried you the day I buried my child." The lump in her throat chocked her words.

Like a mad person he threw the 5 foot 6 inches woman across the room. "You buried an empty coffin." He screamed. "Your child. Our child is still alive. Both our children are still alive." He screamed. "It was because of you, because you cannot even recognise your own husband." He yelled as he slammed her body against the wall behind her. "They took my children away. They took my children's life away from them." His voice was thunderous as his fist struck her head.

Limp, it fell to the side. "No." He whispered. "No. You can't die." He whispered. His voice soft and full of anxiety. "I'm not done with you. I'm not done with you just yet." He said, slamming the lifeless body down the ground.

The blood stained black A-line skirt flipped up a little. The faded green and black ink on her skin poked through the holes of her stockings. "No." He uttered. "I cannot. I did not." He spit spitefully. "No." He screamed again.

"You got the wrong McCabe, Aidan." The mirror image of the woman lying lifeless on the ground spoke. "Sarah is living my life and I'm living her's." She spoke with a slash of class wrapped around her words. "I didn't care about our kids. I didn't care who was it dying on that table. You and Kieran as just the same. You both were. She smirked. "Well you still are a fecking twat." She uttered spitefully.

"Samantha." He whispered to himself. His family is messed up. That much he knew. He never knew that the lady he had cared for and loved all his life could have turned on him. Especially not when he needed her the most.

"That's right Kieran." She smiled cunningly. "It was not a mistake. It was never a mistake." She explained herself. "I knew who you were, I knew you better than you know yourself." She spoke. "Every day, all you can speak of is Aidan. All you know is that he had the better life than you, he made the better chances, he had the chance because he was the latter born. I made you into him." She spat in his face. "I thought if, only if you knew that your fate is not seared in stone, that you could still be anyone you want to be, you could've." Her speech was cut short as a hard blow to her head cut her off her words.

The crushing sounds of her skull shook her. "Then you don't deserve your life." He said swinging his leg dislodging her skull form her spine. "You don't deserve the very life you have and you definitely don't deserve any life."

He could not tell whose blood belongs to whom any more. She was his sister. They were his sisters. She was forced on him when he was younger. She was being forced to strip him of any humility left in his life.

Shaking, his hand reached for the tool he use for a living. The ink that he draw on others. The pain that he inflict upon other, paid by satisfaction. This was different. This was revenge, this was to perpetrate the pain for his satisfaction, for his own gratification.

"I am going to find her, and destroy the only thing that matters to Aidan. The one thing that will kill him." He said spitefully as he spat on both of the lifeless body.

Sighing as he placed the thick folder on the table Reid sat himself down opposite the white board. "You are telling me that this had happened before?" A little confused. He had studied all the killers that was in the book. He even know of those who died even before he was even born. Every notorious, ever heinous serial killers, rapist even child killer that was needed to be known, he knew. "Why, I mean how did I not know of this case before?" He questioned.

"This case was a little complicated." Jereau spoke as she fished through the information that was being loaded on her tablet. "I don't have the full information either. There are many new details I would recover every time we go through the case again and again."

An older agent came through the door, same old expression of annoyance. Same old expression of disapproval. "We caught this animal already. How is this even possible?" David Rossi questioned what little of his team who was present in the room. "Where is Garcia?" He questioned.

The one detail that no one realised that was not there. One little thing. She was not there. She was told not to be there. She was told not to participate just yet, so that Hotchner would have time to explain to Reid what the case was actually about. "Hotch, wanted us to look over the '79 case and the case just before he got caught." Jereau answered. Other than Rossi she might just be the only one who understood why Hotchner was doing what he was doing.


	13. Chapter 13

That morning was different. The air seems so light yet it was so dense. It was one of the rare times when they could see the rare upwards curve plastered on Hotchner's face. The younger Hotchner trailed her brother, as she held tight on her brother's hand. "Why do I feel like I have few holes on me?" Katheryn questioned softly.

Aaron just let out a laugh. "They have never seen a beautiful young girl attached to me before." He said as they entered his office. "Would you be okay here for a while, I have to brief them first." It was a little hard for him to leave her there alone. "Would you be better if Morgan or Spencer is here with you?" He asked her worriedly.

The young lady smiled as she shook his head. "I'll be fine, Aaron. No one can get me here right?" Katheryn spoke, injecting a little more confident in her brother. "Hey, don't worry so much." Her voice gentle as she touched him gently.

Inhaling deeply, mentally preparing himself for the briefing, Aaron pressed the call button on his office phone. "Garcia, round table in 15." He said quickly as he began to compose himself to be strong enough to face the team.

"Aaron. I'm going to be fine. I will still be here when you return. You are still the leader of the team even if you cannot be involved in the investigation." Katheryn stood up as she held her brother's hand softly. "You are my strong shield remember?" She reminded soothingly.

He smiled as he shook his head. "When did you become so matured?" Aaron questioned. "When did you grow up?" He smiled. "I could have sworn you were 15 yesterday." He said as a little peck of kiss landed on the crown of her head.

Smiling, she sat back on the swivelling chair as she reached for the iPad from her bag. Plugging in her earphone in one ear, she listened for the book that she had been reading, well listening to for a little more than a day. It does not interest her, yet she felt compelled to finish the book.

Some how she could relate closely to the character in the book. She could feel the immense pain of the main character who was dying of cancer. The character was dying inside, and fighting to fight for others to survive. She knew the ending. She knew the ending since the beginning of the book, but she just have to find out the reason for the character to live. Of what had kept her alive.

A soft thud rapt softly inside her skull. What was she living for? Why was she even alive? Or even better why was she even born into the world only to be tortured with the poisonous gene and endure a huge amount of hurt just by being alive.

The character kept on living for her one true love, her soul mate. Will she even have her time to even find one of her own? She opened her eyes as she saw a shadow moved in front of her. The whiff of his perfume made her smile. She is a live for the people who kept her alive. Her saviour. Her brother. Her guardian. And her lost angel. The thought made her smile. "Uncle Jason." She said as she stood up.

The older man held her close in his embrace. "You are so beautiful." He whispered. "Aaron did a good job raising you." He slipped. Katheryn pulled away with questioning gesture. "He has always been with you even when he was away." He said quickly.

"He was afraid Gabriel and Calhoun would come and snatch me from him. He was afraid my father would just snatch me off the road and he could never seem me again." Katheryn said knowingly. "I'm sorry you have to come back here." She said apologetically, her head bowed down, eyes to her feet.

Two other distinctive scents entered the room. One she was more than familiar with and one was a little stronger, and musky. "Are you ready?" The deep voice spoke to her. Katheryn eyes rose and wandered towards her brother.

"It's Morgan, Tia." The voice she recognised as her brother spoke. He was slightly too far for her liking. Morgan was lucky that Jason was three inches away from her, or she would have bolted either to her brother or towards the door, she could not make her mind up.

Gideon led her out the door and guided her towards Morgan's office. She knows the reason for that. She knew she had to go into a room with impartial surrounding. She had no sight; her sound and smell receptors have to be in a neutral surrounding to walk through it without judgement.

"Morgan and JJ will take your sta…" His voice trailed. "They will take you from here." She heard Aaron's voice strained to speak those words to her. She knew he would protect her and make her feel safe. She knew he would send at least one lady to make sure she would not bolt up running for the door. Although not being able to be with her pained him in the most inconceivable way.

Landing her bum on the soft faux leather two seater, she felt Morgan sat beside her. Leaving a few inch gap of the faux leather between them, she could feel the tension her facial expression was giving them. "I don't know if I can do this." She said quietly.

Outside the door, he could see her discomfort. He could feel her fear and the particles of air forming tears her eyes. He could see she was holding back her trembling hands and he could hear her heart beat drumming in her chest. "It's going to be fine, little girl." He whispered from outside the door. Jereau looked back towards the door and smiled. Quietly and knowingly she lowered the little curtain, separating and cutting his visual of his little sister.

Her eyes keep glancing towards the door. She could see the shadowy gap of a window on the door blocked by a piece of cloth. She could not see beyond the glass. She could not even see the outline of her brother. "I just want to get this over with." She said quietly as she seeks refuge in the girl she had no idea about.

"You are in a safe place, Katheryn." The lady in front of her said as she touched her hand. "Agent Morgan will ask you a few question." She began as Katheryn took in a deep breath. "I want you to just close your eyes and squeeze my hand if you feel scared. You can stop whenever you want." She explained. Katheryn just nodded her head. "What's wrong Katheryn?"

Her whole body was shaking at that point. She has not even opened her mouth yet her body was quivering. "I don't know." She stammered. Somehow even without knowing, her body reacting, protecting herself from the unwanted memories of her past.

His skin was rough from all the years of working out and being beaten over and over again, yet his touch was gentle. Every cell in her body began to calm down as her brain began to take control one cell at a time. Heaving a deep breath, she stared ahead. One hand clinging to Jereau for support and the other clasping on Morgan's seeking refuge.

"Go back as far as you can remember. The first thing that you can remember about your father." His deep voice caressed her hearing receptor. "Don't worry Katy, just say whatever you hear or smell. Just anything." Morgan continued.

Squeezing her eyes shut, Katheryn began to unlock the box with the lost key in her mind. The box with the key that she have threw away the day they signed the papers saying she was no longer a property of the Federal Government but the child in the Hotchner family.

Flashback.

It was not the first time she felt those sharp pain striking her face. Her mother was a drunk. It was not a wonder why. Her father, she wondered at such a young age should she even call him that. A father. The man who gave the seed that created her is not the gentlest person in the house. She knew that. Her brothers knew that.

The barely five foot teenager hugged her tight. Fighting for her. Accepting the beating that was meant for her. Not from the man that gave the seed, not even from her mother. This time was from the eldest brother who was supposed to be protecting them.

They were identical. Her brothers were identical twins. At least physically they was. They look like a carbon copy of the other with one small flaw, the younger had a cheekier smile with double backed teeth and the other had the straightest teeth she had ever seen in the four years of her existence.

Calhoun the elder one was a rough mean teenage who kill little animals just to see blood drain from their body. He really took after the man who breed their mother and made them. He was his little prodigy.

Gabriel was her guardian angel. He was the one with the emotion and the strength to say stop. He was the one who would take the beating from any other in place of her.

End Flashback.

Katheryn strained face cracked into a smile a little as she spoke of her guardian angel. "Gabe would pick me up every night. He would either walk me to bed every time I would not have the strength to walk on my own or he would carry me to bed." Her voice tremor. "There was once I could see his face wincing in pain and I could feel his body was dripping with our blood. He would change me first. He would always take care of me first before taking care of himself." Katheryn spoke.

Aaron Hotchner grabbed on to the rail behind him for support. All these time he thought she was screaming out Gabriel's name, he thought she was fighting him. Being afraid of him, instead she was actually finding comfort in what little safety she had felt. She never told him anything from her past. He never asked.


	14. Chapter 14

"Do you remember the day you saw Agent Gideon at your house?" Morgan questioned once he felt she was comfortable enough with him and Jereau in the room. Katheryn nodded. "Where were you? How old were you?"

Smiling as the memory played in her head like an old rusted reel in her head. "It was my third birthday. At least that was what Gabe and I was celebrating." Katheryn spoke confidently. "Uncle Jason came when the two of us were left alone in the house because we were bad." Katheryn chocked on her own words.

Morgan caressed her hand gently with his thumbs. "What did you do to be bad?" He questioned.

Snorting out a small laugh Katheryn shook her head. "We had these reversed moral compass back then. The good things were bad and the bad things were good." She began.

_Flashback_

The little three years old girl and her elder brother refused to kill the little kittens they found in the gutter across the road. She playfully tickles the little kittens, as the elder would bathe them in whatever paint stained bucket of rainwater they could collect. They knew if they used up the 'good' water, their parents would punish them.

Calhoun came around back as soon as he was done helping their parent in the basement. She was not yet allowed to go to the basement at that point. She always wondered what was in there.

Hearing the heavy steps of the mean other half of him, quickly they place the innocent little being in a large cardboard box. "When do we tell mommy about kitty?" She spoke softly seemingly ignorant of the character their parents was. Gabriel hushed her quickly. "Why?" She questioned. He just shook his head. He wanted to keep her innocence as that. Innocent. "But they are so cute." She said pouting her lips a little. "Maybe we could…" Her sentence was cut short by the sight of her eldest brother.

With the air of cockiness around him, and a smirk that she would love to smack off his face, Calhoun taunted the younger twin. "Be silent all you want. I can ruin those kitten with just one word." He provoked his two younger siblings.

Almost pleading the younger twin pleaded with his eyes, hoping there was still a little kindness in his heart. "Do you need anything Cal?" He asked timidly. Calhoun shrugged his shoulders.

The young girl almost screamed as she felt her small body yanked backwards by the shoulders. "Go and clean up right now. We need to go out now." The person who carried her for almost 7 months snarled at the little girl.

Too afraid to argue, Katheryn ran up to her room as fast as she could before she was instructed to do another thing. "I want to see those things gone when I come home." Was the last thing she heard her father said. Changing her clothes quickly, the little girl searched for her mother.

A little too roughly, the lady snatches the little girl's hand as the mother hastily dragged her to the worn out gold minivan. "Where are we going mommy?" She asked innocently over and over.

"Shut up." The father figure snarled. The little girl recoiled in fear. "We're going to find another friend." He finally said with a sickening smile on his face. "Do you remember what you have to say?" He questioned as he glanced at the rear view mirror to see his little daughter. The little girl just nodded.

As soon as the car came to a halt, the little girl went running towards the mall. She wished she could just run away. She wished that she could just forget about what awful family she was living with. Yet she have one that loves her. She still have her brother. Her protector.

She darts towards the children section. The section where mothers and mothers to be were usually at. She looked lost. She was three and all alone. Practically she was. Lost.

"Hey little girl." The man said crouching down to her level. "You look lost." He said softly. The girl shook her head as she looked at the lady who was walking towards her.

The mother. Some mother she was. A little girl barely three and another on the way. Or at least that was what she looked like. "I told you not to run. What if I lost you?" She said shaking the little girl too hard. The fear in the little girl's eyes was genuine. Yet the earnestness in the mother's was not.

'Help me'. The little girl mouthed at the older man. "Hey, my name is Jason." The man said extending his hand. "What's your name pretty girl?" The little girl seemed terrified to even answer him.

"Tia." Her mother spoke. "I'm sorry sir, we have to go." She said as she jerked the little girl roughly. "What do I say about talking to men?" She scolded the little girl. "Now, let's go. Or your father is going to get angry at us."

_End Flashback_

Morgan's soft voice brought her back from the memory for a second. "You are in a safe place Katy. You are going to be just fine." His voice soothing as small curve formed on her face. Katheryn nodded her head.

_Flashback_

The very pregnant woman struggled in the back seat of the van. The little girl sat quietly beside her as she looked down on her feet. Seeing the distraught girl, the pregnant woman stopped. As if she could feel the fear that was coursing through the little girl's veins.

The little girl looked up at the pregnant woman. The woman smiled. A sincere maternal smile. Her eyes were apologetic knowing what the fate of the woman in her house later.

As soon as she reached home, she bolted from the car as the car stopped. "Gabriel." She called as she ran towards the back yard. "Ga…" her voice box gave in. "Cal no. Please please no." She cried loudly. The last kitten's life was not spared either. Not even with her cry.

"Gabriel get in here." The father voice roared from inside the house. Quickly he went in. It was an unspoken rule in the house, no one, not one person will question their father. Not even their own mother.

From outside of the house she could hear the pregnant lady scream and shouted then her voice was quieted to a whimper. She wanted to go in the house and help the lady. She wanted to help the pregnant lady but what could a three years old toddler do.

With tears stained face, she went on in anyway. The pregnant lady she was with in the car was strapped down on the chair with a hole as a seat. She squirmed as her body was stripped down from her clothes.

Katheryn stood still at the doorway. Looking at the work her parents were doing. She had heard other things before in her life but never did she have the courage to enter to see for herself. The funny looking contraption in her brother's hand was wet and bloody.

She was not sure what her brother or mother was saying by then. Her mind could not comprehend the reality that she was living with all these while. Why her father was touching and saying things to her at night. Why her brothers were forced on her at night. She thought those were normal. Those were games that kids play at night.

The next thing she knew was her head hitting the back of the steel chair and the world as she knew it changed. She could feel blood dripping down her neck and stopping at the nape. It seeped warmly on the white peter pan collar of her on her blue blouse.

The muffled sound of her mother shouting and her brothers yelling were nothing new, but when she heard the door was being broke open she knew her life was going to be changed.

_End Flashback_

Her hands were trembling a little as she told them the story. Outside the door, Gideon glanced back at Aaron. Both of them were there. Aaron knew exactly what happened that night. His little blue baby.

He never told her what he saw, and he never told her that he was there.


	15. Chapter 15

Jereau looked out the window directly at her unit chief. She cocked her head a little questioningly. Hotchner just shook his head. She had read the reports before but she never knew that he never did write the whole thing.

"Maybe we should take a little break." Jereau said softly. Morgan agreed. Katheryn tried to protest but she knew better than to do so. She nodded. "Katy, are you sure you want to continue with this? You're a little pale." She commented.

Katheryn smiled. She nodded. "I know." She said quietly. "I'm very pale. I'm just a little tired." She heaved as Jereau rushed to fetch Hotchner. "Aaron, tell them I'm fine. I'm just a little tired."

Her fingers were cold to the touch. Aaron held them close, warming them up. "Do you need anything?" He questioned quietly. She shook her head. "Come on pretty girl, tell me what's really going on."

It was as if someone lifted the block in her mind as she shot her eyes open. "No. No. No. No. No. It can't be. It cannot be you. It was Uncle Jason. Tell me it was not you. It cannot be." Katheryn peered up to her brother. "Please tell me it was not you."

Impulsively he just embraced the young girl. "It was Jason. It wasn't me." His voice a little too prepared, shaking his head towards Jason. "You are safe with me now." He said quietly embracing her like a little child. Like the little child he once saw her.

"We don't have to do this anymore if you are not up to it." Spencer said as he handed a file each to the other agents. 'I'm sorry.' He mouthed at Hotchner as he saw how broken the brother was. And he knew If she went any further into the case, the more of his background would be revealed to the team. Things about his past that he never wanted anyone to know. Things that even he himself does not want to remember.

Katheryn shut her eyes and squeezed her brother's hand. "I'm fine." She said. "You guys caught the Reverend, why do you want me to go through it again?" She asked confused.

Gideon drew a breath. His eyes darted at Reid. "It's a copycat of the Reverend. Things that only an inside person would know." He replied. Katheryn scrunched her brows together. "It's just that we think that we might have missed something in the old case."

The young girl shook her head. "Hold on." Katheryn straightened up. "You're saying that Calhoun or Gabriel might be the perpetrator?" She questioned. She could hear other people were hesitating to answer her. "Let me get this straight, Agatha is still alive right?" She questioned. A muffled yes filled the room. "Is she or is she not?" She questioned.

"She was stabbed in prison, and it's not looking so good." Jereau spoke.

If her eyes were able to see, her face looked like she saw a ghost. "And the reverend?" She questioned. The room fell silent. She could swear she could hear her own heart beat at the silence. Katheryn sighed. "I'm no profiler, or an agent. One thing that I know is the psychotic mind of my birth family." She said. "You know we could have done this much faster and I didn't have to go through that." Katheryn said standing up.

Reid hesitated. He started to open his mouth but nothing would come out. Feeling a little odd, Morgan shot a look at the younger agent. "Katy, the unsub, I mean the criminal not only copy The Reverend, but also…" there was tremor in his voice. It was almost like he could not even speak.

"What?" Katheryn questioned. "What Spencer? He also copied some other criminal that is linked to me? That could be hundreds of the Reverend's follower and not to mention what other half brothers and sisters I have." She said raising her voice a little.

Never have he seen her that angry or disturbed in his life. "Tia?" Aaron's voice seeped through the air, breaking what little barrier that was building up around her. "Tia, what are you saying?"

Katheryn just shook her head. "Forget it Aaron. It's nothing." She said spitefully. Squinting she searched for the door. "I trusted you, Spence." She said as she brushed against the taller man.

Sighing loudly, he followed the younger girl. "Katy, wait." He called. "Hayley Brett." He called. The young girl halted.

_Flashback_

The little girl squinted. After being abused over and over, the scar tissue on her optical nerve was making it hard for her to see. Her vision was reduced to being able to see things very near to her and very big prints.

"My name is Aaron Hotchner." The older man said as he took a seat opposite her. "Can you tell me your name?" He questioned.

The little girl smiled. "Katja McCabe. You arrested my father remember." She said articulately. The man just smiled. "I'm not going to have to go back to my father or mother will I?" She questioned.

Hotchner shook his head. "No. But we will have to find you another name." He said gently. Before the little girl even had the chance to ask why, he explained as best he could to the four years old. "You are going to be a new person, far, far away from the bad people. So you would need a new name." He explained. "Do you have a name that you like?" He questioned.

The little girl just smiled as she shrugged. "Haley Brett." Another voice interjected. The little girl almost jumped from her seat to the voice. "Someone's glad to see me." He teased.

"Uncle Jason." She greeted him cheerfully. She would flinch at even the slightest touch, yet she had no problem at all hugging the older agent.

_End Flashback_

Katheryn turned to face the six-foot tall agent. "I spent 10 years of my life running away from that day, deleting every single sound, every single scent and I'm certainly am not going to remember one bit of that memory."

Gideon moved closer to the little girl. "Calhoun and Gabriel might not be the person who you thought they were. You are the only link, you are the only person that might have the answer to this new cases." He said.

Shaking her head, Katheryn relaxed a little. "There are new cases?" She questioned. "I thought, you were just opening a cold case because you wanted to know about the last lost member."


	16. Chapter 16

Gideon sat opposite the young girl who refused to part from her brother after the little instigation earlier. "So which of you will tell me what is really going on?"

Katheryn sighed as she linked her hands with her brother's. "I told Aaron not to tell anyone, and then when I went to live with Sean, I was already at the legal age to consent my own treatment. I even kept it from him." Katheryn said with hints of guilt. Smiling guiltily at her brother Katheryn admitted. "Chemotherapy has its pros and cons. Unfortunately after the second remission, my heart started to give out. It's not as strong as it used to be."

She could feel the grip of her brother's palm tightens around hers. "When exactly were you going to tell me?" Aaron chocked in his own voice. Shrugging, Katheryn just smiled. "Who else knows?" He questioned.

Giggling playfully, Katheryn could smell the jealousy in her brother's voice. "Don't jump on him, but I told Spencer. He saw me taking my medication at the table during our dinner." She replied. Gideon eyed Hotchner. The younger just shook his head silently. "Aaron consented, he knew I was going out with Spencer. He was the one who basically arranged the meeting for me and Spence." The both men smiled at each other. At least her love interest is someone they know and trusts. "Besides, I knew him since I was four." She added quickly.

Gideon face turned serious. "What was it that you whispered to him just now?" He questioned. Katheryn just shook her head. The soft smile on her peach white face, wiped away. "Katja, even the smallest thing helps. What is it that was too bad that you cannot tell anyone?" He questioned. "What are you afraid of?"

"My heart stopping." Katheryn admitted. "Well not in the literal sense, but every time I get nightmares about those days, I feel like my chest is going to burst open." Her voice was heavy with concern instead of fear. "Every time I wake up with the memory of them I felt so dirty. I even feel guilty for being alive."

The big brother cupped her chin up to face him. His breath stunk of too much coffee and imminent fear. "Will you tell me what you don't want to remember if I promise to tell you a secret that I have never told anyone?" Aaron negotiated. She wanted to tell him. She wanted to let go of her nightmare so that she could live in the present without being guilty of her past identity.

At that exact moment all she wanted was to cuddle up in her brother's embrace and just enjoy a hot cup of cocoa. She just wanted to feel save in his embrace. Just be his little baby girl. "I will if you could promise me to let me go when the times comes." The one request that he had been avoiding all his life. The one request he never wanted to hear from her.

Clearing his throat, The older Hotchner parted a little from his sister. "No." He said pulling back further. "If it was something else I would consider it, but letting you go is like killing you." His voice was a mix of hurt and betrayed.

Fear and despair in his voice was even more painful than any poison she had ever had to take. "Fine." She said finally. "I'll do it." She gave in. The air around her sodden in glum, yet the over powering light of her brother's succour gave her the strength to pull herself up from the small little shell that she was retracting into.

"Hey." She heard the older man said softly. "We'll do it one at a time. We don't have to go through it all at once." His voice was determined yet subtly amiable. "We're going to go through this together. Just like we had done it before." He said reaching for the young lady's hand.

Katheryn looked up towards the older man. "I'll tell you the truth if you two stop keeping the truth from me. I am old enough to know." She paused. "If I don't know the truth how do you think I would even remember the memory that I have spent years trying to forget?" Her voice so tender yet it has strength in them. A strength that Hotchner felt she had lost.

As an elder brother, it was almost like he could read her mind. He had his reasons. Gideon knew that they had to keep it a secret or all their efforts all these years would just blew up in dust.

Her eyes was very demanding. Her voice was pleading. "Was it you or was it Aaron who gave the call to fire on Gabriel?" She questioned. She knew it was one of them and she was always told that it was Gideon. It was not revenge that she was looking for. It was not the blame that she wanted to know, but she just needed justification. The voice that haunted her every dream. The voice that crippled her damned angel. The voice of her saviour. "Was it really you?" Her eyes darting at Gideon.

He was the team leader at that time. He was the first person who saw her. Yet he knew he was and will never be strong enough to be her saviour. "It was me." He said confidently. "It was all me. I'm truly sorry for hurting your brother." His voice cold and scripted. Katheryn nodded. She recoiled into the shell that she made around her.

"Why is it so important to you?" Aaron questioned. Knowing that he might as well confess if that was what keeping her from telling him the dark dirty secret she had been keeping from him.

Katheryn shook her head solemnly. Her glum smile pasted, hoping it was enough to make the questions stop. She laid her head on Aaron's shoulder as her eyes dropped to her feet. A pearl of tear dropped on Aaron's thigh. "I will never know the truth from either of you will I?" Her voice seeped through her gritted teeth.

Flashback

They knew that they would never be able to retrieve the girl safely with out injuring her or her brothers. Hotchner understood that the elder agent would forever be conflicted if he would be the one giving order to harm the children. He knew he could hit his target. Most of the time he could. And this time it was no different. He did. He did hit his target just not a hundred percent.

The bullet he fired caught in the young boy's back. The loud rang of his gun shocked the little girl. In the haste of the rain of gun fires and blood pooling around her, the young girl tried to run to safety when her brother caught her feet when she fell and hit her head caught by the edge of the stairs.

While the others sprinted to catch the two devils, he knew he had to separate the little girl from the one person she felt save with. Her eyes was still in bandage, but the blood on her body was not hers.

"Go on. I have her from here." His unit leader said quietly forcing him to move. Carefully Gideon pry the little girl away from the tight grip of her shot down big brother.

Finger by finger he pried open the gip the elder brother had on the little girl. "You're going to be fine pretty girl." He heard Hotchner spoke as he carried the little girl away towards the ambulance outside. The two boys looked the same to him. The two boys were he same to him. All he saw was two identical twins who was a budding rapist and serial killer in the making.

End Flashback

Aaron let out a heavy sigh as he picked his little sister back up to face him. His touch was even gentler than he usually was. It was almost like she could break if he would touch her any other way. "Why is it important for you to know who gave the signal?" He questioned. Katheryn just kept still. "Tia." He coaxed softly. "Hey, I know this is difficult for you. We, I need to know why."

Katheryn close her eyes, hoping that the tears that were welling in her eyes would disappear. "That person that was shot was Gabriel. It was Cal that was hidden under the stairs." Her voice clear but scared.

The elder man felt like his whole world collapsed. It was no question that the potential serial killer was Calhoun. He had seen what the little boy could do. "Why did he say his name was Gabriel?" He asked confused. The young lady shook her head in disbelief. He would know why. He should have known.

"Because we locked up the wrong person." Aaron spoke in disbelief. "Tia, it was me. It was all on me. I took the shot. I didn't give the signal, I didn't receive the signal. I took the shot because I thought he was hurting you." He admitted finally.


	17. Chapter 17

The retired unit leader barged in the room where the others were as they were working the profile of a case he had closed years before. "It doesn't makes sense." Morgan began. "If it was one of the boys who are behind all these act of monstrosity, why wait till now? And why work so close to home?" He argued.

Reid shook his head. "Gabriel is not strong enough to do this and Calhoun is not smart enough not alone. Though all the evidence are pointing to only one unsub."

Jereau glanced up at the scrawny young man. "You look like you have some idea." She reasoned. Reid just shook his head. "What is it?" She pressed. The young man frantically go through the pictures over and over again.

"Reid." She said catching his hand. "What is it?"

"I don't know." Reid replied, a little irresolute about his own thoughts. "It's like there's something on her skin." He said taking a closer look at it. "It's like dots on her wrist."

Morgan sighed. "That's the signature we were talking about, genius." He said nonchalantly as he threw the file back on the table. It's just two lines of them. Like he's taunting us saying he's the reverend 2.0 version."

Ignoring the other man he turned to Gideon. "Did you ever find out what the dots mean?" He questioned. Gideon shook his head. "The mark is not done with a template. It's being done by memory." Reid said.

"Which means this unsub have been in contact with McCabe or he is a fan that did his research on the case very well." Gideon spoke. The younger boy sat down.

Reid shook his head. "It's more than that." He said. "Is it possible for Katy to look at this?" He questioned. All of the running eyes looking for a new clue darted at him. "This looks like a braille writing." He said a little confused himself. "But I can't make out the meaning. It could be phonetic or it could be just another language."

Morgan look at him impassively. "You read braille too?" He questioned. Reid's eyebrows furrowed. "Is there anything that you don't do?" He questioned.

"No." He said blatantly. "I don't read them. I can recognise them. That's why I need someone who is fluent in them to see. Or to touch." He retorted quietly. "I remembered seeing Katy reading her book and it looks something like this." He said sighing.

Gideon shook his head. "I'm not bringing her into this. We don't know how much she can see now and we don't know how much can she take it if she can actually see these pictures."

He wanted to disagree, but he knew that no matter what he says, he could never win over his mentor. A sudden loud bang from Hotchner's office made them all rose and rush to them. "Katy." Reid's anxiousness slipped his tongue.

Gasping for air, her face white, her lips blue. Enough to make Reid turned away. He could not see that. He cannot. He had seen it before. He had been through the same thing before. He was the one who took her to the hospital before her last day.

"It was me." The young scrawny lad whispered to no one in particular. "It was me all along." He said looking up. Gideon's eyes was the first one that he caught. "I knew what hurt her the most. I knew the nightmare all along. I just couldn't remember." He conceded.

Fighting for her breath, Katheryn's handclasp on her brother's firmly. Never letting go. Never parting from him. It was much worse than she had ever brought it out to be. It was even worse than what she told her boyfriend how she really was.

Hotchner shook his head. "Katy please, please, please don't leave me." His voice was frail and broken. "Come on pretty girl. Just breathe." He whispered softly. "Just breathe."

He knew it was not easy for Hotchner to see his little sister lying on the bed with needle poking on her arm and wires everywhere on her body. The only time he was away from the young lady was when he made a call to his younger brother.

"You guys should go ahead." Hotchner said while his hand still clasp on to his sister's. Neither of them could have said other wise, all they could do was to agree.

Gideon gave him a weak smile. "You take care of yourself too." He said softly. Hotchner just gave him a quick nod. "She will be needing you." He added before he excused himself out. Although he was reluctant, Reid conformed to his leader's wishes.

"What is wrong with her?" Curious, Jereau questioned the young man who had the wheels. "Hey, you know that you mirror Hotch perfectly, right?" She added. "Spence?"

Like a stone, Reid stared forward, his eyes transfixed on the road ahead of him. "Hey, kid?" The muscle of the group spoke from the back seat. Still there was no reply from him. "Reid, you know there are other ways to handle bad news. You cannot keep on torturing yourself and keep it all in till you explode." Morgan said.

A sigh of frustration and hurt escaped the young man. "I don't… I don't know really. All she told me was that her heart was giving out because of her chemo. She never told me what the chemo was for." His voice was quieted by the solemnness that was surrounding him. "I should have been there, JJ. I should have been there for her. I should have seen the signs. I should have known what she was going through." His knuckles white, gripping on the steering wheel.

Jereau's face changed in a beat. "What do you mean by her heart is giving out?" She questioned as if the statement was not clear enough. "Is that why…" Her voice strained. "Spencer, I'm sorry."


	18. Chapter 18

The very first thing she saw as she opened her eyes was the face of her worried brother leaning tiredly beside her bed. "I'm sorry." Her voice barely as whisper.

Aaron barely could control his own emotion form showing on his face. "You, don't you ever scare me like that ever again." His voice quavers as his hands clenched on hers.

Katheryn pale lips turned up into a weak smile. "I'm sorry, I guess I was just pushing myself a little bit too hard." The sound of her voice was more painful for him to hear than seeing her on the bed.

"I'm sorry for making you go through it again. I'm sorry for pushing you to remember those things." He whispered softly into her ears. The stringent smell of poison coursing through her body does not change the sweet lavender smell on her skin.

Katheryn heartbeat settled down a little more. "You didn't happen to call Sean did you?" She questioned. It was a question that she did not need an answer to. "If you happen to get him again, tell him that I'm okay. He doesn't need to come up here." She spoke softly. The heavy sighed from Aaron tells her even more than she needed to know.

"He's only in for questioning. He's going to get out soon, he said not to worry about him." Aaron spoke as his hand gently brush away the stray hair on her forehead. "He's going to be fine." He said convincing himself.

She nodded as she reached for her brother's face. "You ought to take your own advice sometimes too, you know." She said tracing the lines on her brother's face. "You're ageing prematurely as it is. You don't need to burden yourself with us anymore. We're grown now. You thought us good." She forced a smile on her face, hoping the other would have one too.

He coughed out a laughter as he looked upon his little sister. "How did you grow up to be so smart?" All he wanted to do is cry for her. Scream about all the bad things that had happened in his life. He could not. He could never show his weakness. Not to his young son. Not to her. Not even to his own brother. Especially not to his team.

Sensing the tension building up around him Katheryn turned away. "Why are you so sad all the time?" She questioned. "Is it because of Sean?" She fished. Aaron just shook his head quietly. "Do I look that bad?" She asked. Again he shook his head.

"You're always beautiful, little girl." Aaron spoke. "Always beautiful." He choked. Katheryn smiled knowingly. "I'm sorry little girl. I'm sorry for making you go through that. I should have never ask you to go through it."

She could feel her eyes burning as tears welled up in them. "Did the doctor happen to say how long do I have left?" She asked pointedly. Aaron pulled himself away. "Aaron." She called. "Aaron, the first time we got to know about it, the doctor gave me a year. It's been 10 years since. I'm still here." She reasoned. "Aaron, I'll do it again, we'll find a specialist. I'll get better. I know I can."

His breathing weighted. "No pretty girl. Don't torture yourself for me, or for Sean. If you do it again, do it for yourself. I cannot hurt you again. I will not hurt you again."

Her eyes focused on her brother. Figuring his shadow, remembering how he looks. "I knew it was you who took the shot. I have always known, Aaron. I have always known you have a mind of your own and you don't always follow orders. But I also know that I mean the world to you." Katheryn said. "I'm going to stay here with you. I'm going to get my treatment and I'm going to get better." She said with determination. "I just need a new heart that's all." She added lightly.

Aaron sighed he saw the little girl shifted a little calling for him to lay beside her. "I know I've pushed too hard in making you remembering the past and I'm sorry." He started as Katheryn pouted. "What is it?" He questioned as he pulled her tight against his chest.

"Somewhere inside me I wanted to remember. I want to know." She said softly. "But I cannot. My mind is not letting me remember." Katheryn sighed. "I've tried so many times. I have tried again and again, but I cannot." She admitted.

Planting kisses on his little sister's forehead, Aaron shook his head. "I shouldn't have pushed." His voice gentle. "We can always try again if you are up to it. But not now." The vibration of his voice pleaded. "What is it, pretty girl?" He asked as Katheryn shifted her head a little.

Smiling up at her big brother her glistening eyes questioned. "Why do you keep calling me pretty girl?" She questioned as her fingers laced her brother's. "Why is uncle Jason calling me that?"

She could hear her brother smiling. "Because you are." He said, pecking atop her head. Seeing her unconvinced face, Aaron ran his fingers, tracing the silhouette of her face. "I don't know about Jason, but you are the prettiest girl I have ever met." He said with his sincerest voice.

With a sarcastic look on her face Katheryn looked up at her brother. "Yeah, very pretty I reckon, with hundreds of burn and welt marks." She said sarcastically.

The marks were what make her the strong lady she is. The pain of welts was what moulded her to be the fighter that she is. "I'm sure you have forgotten what beautiful green eyes you have and those rose bud lips, it's not a wonder why Spencer was smitten when he saw you." Aaron spoke, Katheryn cheeks burn red with embarrassment. "It was especially fun when Sean's friend thought you were his girlfriend and he used to be too over protective of you in high school, it was just hilarious." He added.

"And he bashed up Jonathan for calling me Christmas." She did have bouncy red curl framing her face before the poison made it all go away. She has emerald gems for eyes before the torture robbed her from her vision. Her peachy fair skin was robbed of its youthfulness with cigarette butts and welts from anything her father could reach at any moment.

He wanted to just pick her up and cradle her in his embrace. "I really don't get your obsession of colouring your hair brown. I like your red hair. You look so beautiful with your red hair. You are the most beautiful girl, darling." Aaron choked on his own words.

"Because I'm a Hotchner now." She answered simply.


End file.
